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{
"title": "Broadcast photojournalist assaulted after filming fight in Miami Beach",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photojournalist-assaulted-after-filming-fight-in-miami-beach/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:24.018645Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:24.018645Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:23.955785Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Beach",
"longitude": -80.13005,
"latitude": 25.79065,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"elqqt\">A 7News photojournalist was assaulted after filming a fight while on assignment in Miami Beach, Florida, on June 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v9ba\">The outlet <a href=\"https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/7news-photojournalist-beat-up-while-on-job-in-miami-beach/\">reported</a> that the photojournalist — who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons — was out reporting when he saw two men throwing punches at each other.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoqbl\">“[It] looked like they were going to get into and, like, have a fight,” the journalist told 7News. “My kind of news antenna went up. I was like, what’s going on, and then I was just trying to be aware.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57lc0\">The photojournalist began filming, but when the men realized that they had been recorded they ran across the street and confronted him, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"encvg\">“They got me in the back of the head right here,” the photojournalist said. He told the outlet that he was repeatedly punched in the head and face. One of the men grabbed his phone from him, but he said he was able to get it back.</p><p data-block-key=\"6630m\">When asked if he had told the men he was simply doing his job, the photojournalist told 7News that he hadn’t had time to think about it, as things happened too fast.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9khm\">The journalist was able to flag down a police officer and filed a report before seeking medical treatment. He told the outlet that he was fine but was still shaken.</p><p data-block-key=\"mb8b\">“We cover it all the time, you just never think you’re gonna be part of the story,” the photojournalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kp13\">According to 7News, Miami Beach Police are investigating the incident as a simple battery case.</p><p data-block-key=\"e66oe\">Neither the outlet nor the police department responded to requests for additional information.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
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"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 24 (WSVN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "PA investigative reporter, photojournalist assaulted by business owner",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pa-investigative-reporter-photojournalist-assaulted-by-business-owner/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.963997Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.963997Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.869707Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "South Centre Township",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jiclv\">A WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News crew was attacked by a local business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 2022. The man was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of harassment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2esm\">Investigative reporter Andy Mehalshick and photojournalist L Bacerra were reporting on claims that Vision Home Builders had closed without warning in April and owed customers tens of thousands of dollars for incomplete or never started homes, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/video/top-video/confrontation-gets-physical-at-vision-home-builders-office/\">according to Eyewitness News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sfhl\">When the news crew approached the shuttered business to ask for the owner, Jeff McCreary, they were told to “get lost.” Moments later, Mehalshick and Bacerra were filming as a customer approached the same office and a man and woman, later identified as McCreary and his wife, stepped outside the building to respond to her. McCreary became physical with the customer, eventually pushing her off the office’s porch and to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"7eenc\">“Then McCreary turned his attention to us,” Mehalshick said in his report for Eyewitness News.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lrv1\">In footage from the incident, McCreary walked up to the pair of journalists, only identifying himself as the property owner before repeatedly shoving the journalists and attacking the camera. It is unclear whether the camera was damaged during the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4b9\">“Get off the property! Get off my property!” McCreary says. “Erase that camera!”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7bqq\">“Don’t assault us here!” Mehalshick responds.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfivt\">“Erase that camera!” McCreary says as he again punches at the camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"4863m\">Mehalshick reported that he called the police to report the incident as McCreary continued to accost them.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ics4\">Eyewitness News <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/i-team/vision-home-builders-owner-jeff-mccreary-charged/\">reported</a> that McCreary was charged with two counts of harassment and disorderly conduct for the attack on Mehalshick and Bacerra. McCreary was also charged with simple assault and harassment for the attack on the customer.</p><p data-block-key=\"c564r\">McCreary appeared for a preliminary hearing in January 2023, during which a judge dismissed the simple assault charge, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/mccreary-in-court-for-alleged-assault-charges/\">according to the outlet</a>. He pleaded guilty to the three counts of harassment on March 3, at which time Judge Gary Norton appears to have dropped the disorderly conduct charge.</p><p data-block-key=\"bisv2\">McCreary was sentenced to nine months probation and issued $900 in fines. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims and pay the costs of prosecution.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qipc\">Following the sentencing in March 2023, neither journalist responded to emails requesting comment, and the South Center Township Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mehalshick.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"frnk2\">A business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, left, confronts WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News Reporter Andy Mehalshick and the photojournalist capturing the incident, on June 15, 2022. The man later pleaded guilty to harassment charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andy Mehalshick (WBRE-TV/WYOU)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Filmmaker detained, pressured to delete footage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-detained-pressured-to-delete-footage/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-27T18:51:46.479469Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-22T16:11:23.929453Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-22T16:11:23.838135Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h081s\">A documentary filmmaker was detained by Atlanta Police Department officers while filming in a forest southeast of Atlanta, Georgia, on June 15, 2022, according to <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/protester-terrorism-charges-come-amid-legal-battle-over-other-arrests-of-demonstrators-journalists/columnists/johnruch/\">a news report</a> and an interview with the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"b25g6\">The filmmaker — who has produced work for CNN and Discovery Channel — asked to remain anonymous out of concern of retribution. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had begun working on a documentary about the Defend the Atlanta Forest campaign, a grassroots movement against the destruction of forest area to make way for a 85-acre police training facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"djdhv\">“On that day in particular I had seen on social media that the police were in the forest cutting trees and looking for protesters so I decided to take my cameras and go down,” the filmmaker said. “The protesters in the forest were all hiding, so I didn’t see any of them that day. I walked through the forest and I came to a clearing and I saw the police down the hill on a dirt road in the forest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"co36d\">The filmmaker said that he was standing approximately 50 to 80 yards away from the officers and began filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"cf5lm\">“I was standing right in the middle of the road, I was not hiding, I had my vest on that was clearly marked with large patches, front and back, ‘PRESS’,” he said. “And when they approached me I did not run, I did not do anything other than identify myself as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6m119\">The officers informed him that he was trespassing and that he needed to leave the area. As he began walking in the direction the officers had indicated, the filmmaker said more officers arrived on an all-terrain vehicle and told him that he was being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8n40\">The filmmaker told the Tracker he was alarmed by the behavior of the officer who seemed to be a supervisor and who had initially told him he was under arrest for trespassing.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cfg4\">“I have no doubt that he’s done this before and he’s confident that he can intimidate a journalist with impunity,” the journalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnm4d\">After examining his ID for 15 minutes, another officer was called in and took the lead in questioning him, at first about what he was doing in the area and then more extensively about his reporting and what he had filmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"756ci\">“Everything seemed to stop at that point,” the filmmaker said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c0rjv\">“The next 30 to 40 minutes was all about, ‘We want to see your footage. Delete your footage. We want to see your footage. You might be going to jail. You’re going to be arrested,’” he said. “They were just continually trying to intimidate me into deleting my footage or showing it to them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"26lf9\">In <a href=\"https://vimeo.com/782712414\">footage of the incident</a>, an officer tells the filmmaker his responses could determine his ability to walk away.</p><p data-block-key=\"481gm\">“I’m going to ask you to delete all the footage that you have today since it was obtained illegally,” the officer says. “And depending on how the rest of this interview goes, will determine whether or not you’re going to be arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"deslo\">The filmmaker said he believed the officer to be from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u10h\">The journalist repeatedly refused to show them or delete the footage, and said he was released after approximately 90 minutes with a warning not to return.</p><p data-block-key=\"c126o\">Drago Cepar, an attorney advising the filmmaker, told the Tracker that it is clear the detainment was in retaliation for the journalist exercising his First Amendment rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"epvnd\">“I think if you detain somebody and tell them they have to delete their footage or else, it’s pretty clear that’s what’s going on,” Cepar said. “I think it’s a pretty egregious situation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aft3c\">The APD announced that it would investigate the detainment in December, <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/apd-opens-internal-investigation-into-journalists-detention-during-training-center-protest-coverage/sections/reports/johnruch/\">according to SaportaReport</a>. When emailed for comment, APD’s Public Affairs Office responded with an automated reply that it was operating on holiday on-call capacity, and that it would follow up.</p></div>",
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"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"case_number": "1:23-cv-02204",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-05-16 12:09:00+00:00) Filmmaker files lawsuit against City of Atlanta following detainment"
],
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"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [
"environmentalism"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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"Michael Watchulonis (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Documentarian subpoenaed by House Committee investigating Jan. 6 riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-23T15:35:30.003895Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-24T15:23:03.576367Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-24T15:23:03.464041Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"asjlj\">The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder for footage and testimony on June 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"22mvd\">Holder, the founder of AJH Media Group, began working on a documentary about then-President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in September 2020, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/06/21/scoop-jan-6-panel-subpoenas-unseen-trump-tapes-00040911\">reported</a>. According to a statement Holder <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexjholder/status/1539254430033387522?s=20&t=w5ecDDKZA0YECe2dezvs0A\">published on Twitter</a>, he had “unparalleled access and exclusive interviews” with the Trump family and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the White House and Mar-A-Lago and behind-the-scenes access on the campaign trail and both before and after the insurrection.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My statement in response to being subpoenaed by Congress: <a href=\"https://t.co/LOY53rEynI\">pic.twitter.com/LOY53rEynI</a></p>— Alex Holder (@alexjholder) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexjholder/status/1539254430033387522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"asjlj\"><a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/alex-holder-jan-6-committee-subpoena-1371644/\">Rolling Stone</a> reported that several former officials in Trump’s reelection campaign told the magazine they had no idea that a documentary was being filmed during that period.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t9ma\">The <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000181-8458-de12-add1-bc5824520000\">subpoena</a> orders Holder to produce raw footage from Jan. 6, 2021; interviews with Trump, Pence, Trump’s children and his son-in-law; and any footage of discussions of election fraud or election integrity around the 2020 presidential election.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekhv\">According to Holder’s statement, he turned over footage in compliance with the subpoena on June 21, 2022, and will sit for a deposition on June 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e2ah\">“When we began this project in September 2020, we could have never predicted that our work would one day be subpoenaed by Congress,” Holder said. “We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"btmrt\">When reached for comment, the law firm representing Holder directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to Politico’s coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"figgu\">The House Select Committee, chaired by Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, has now issued at least three subpoenas targeting journalists or their records. The committee subpoenaed freelance photojournalist Amy Harris’ <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-sues-following-house-committees-subpoena-of-her-phone-records/\">phone records</a> in November 2021 and ordered another British documentarian, Nick Quested, to <a href=\"/all-incidents/documentary-filmmaker-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/\">provide footage and testify</a> in early 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vjh7\">Holder’s documentary, “Unprecedented,” is set to be released in three parts this summer, according to his statement.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gbqy1\">A portion of the subpoena issued to documentary filmmaker Alex Holder ordering him to produce footage from his coverage of then-President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"tags": [
"Donald Trump",
"election",
"Election 2020"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Alex Holder (AJH Media Group)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Subpoena to uncover confidential source dropped following sworn statement",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-to-uncover-confidential-source-dropped-following-sworn-statement/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.831150Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.831150Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.725518Z",
"date": "2022-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a0wpp\">Broadcast journalist Pamela K. Browne was subpoenaed on June 14, 2022, about coverage of a federal investigation into a Chinese American scientist that later led to a privacy lawsuit. The subpoena was ultimately withdrawn.</p><p data-block-key=\"4pae7\">Fox published the investigative online articles and broadcast reports from February to June 2017. Multiple agencies were investigating the possible foreign military ties of Yanping Chen and the university she founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area.</p><p data-block-key=\"csrdi\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016. No charges were brought against Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jtug\">In December 2018, Chen sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was shared with then-Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qq0u\">In 2022, Chen subpoenaed Browne, Herridge, Fox Executive Producer Cyd Upson and Fox News for documents and testimony, in an attempt to uncover the confidential source behind the leak. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d789s\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.86.0.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the Tracker, Browne and Upson ultimately agreed to provide sworn statements in place of documents or testimony. In exchange, Chen agreed to withdraw her subpoenas to Browne and Upson, but continued to pursue the subpoenas to Fox and Herridge, a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.122.0.pdf\">subsequent court filing</a> confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"8262b\">In a June 30 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.2.pdf\">statement</a>, Browne declared that she was never made aware of the identity of Herridge’s confidential source or sources, and has no information that could be used to help identify them. She also confirmed that she left her position at Fox in late 2018, and has no access to the electronic devices, phone or email address that she used to communicate about the reports.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p1prn\">A portion of a sworn statement filed by former Fox News producer Pamela K. Browne in June 2022, about her coverage of an FBI investigation into a Chinese American scientist's possible foreign military ties.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
{
"title": "Editor files lawsuit after new policy closes access to Tenn. courts annual meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-files-lawsuit-after-new-policy-closes-access-to-tenn-courts-annual-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-16T19:18:34.204770Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-22T20:21:50.888013Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-22T20:21:50.790398Z",
"date": "2022-06-13",
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"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
"latitude": 36.16589,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2afyx\">The executive editor of a Chicago-based news publication filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts on June 13, 2022, over access to a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.</p><p data-block-key=\"3c354\">According to <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/14/chicago-news-outlet-sues-tennessee-courts-over-first-amendment-access/7612525001/\">the Tennessean</a>, Dan McCaleb, executive editor of The Center Square, learned on June 6 of a new policy put forth by Michelle Long, the Director of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, preventing the public and members of the media from attending the annual meetings.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lqp9\">The annual conference comprises the state’s active and retired judges who meet to consider laws, draft legislation and make recommendations to the state’s general assembly. Court documents obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker shows that Long, named in the lawsuit in her official capacity, approved the policy on Feb. 1, to “ensure the safety and security of conference attendees, staff, and invited speakers during AOC conferences.”</p><p data-block-key=\"47s4u\">In <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/578204380/McCaleb-v-Long#download&from_embed\">the lawsuit</a>, McCaleb argues that the policy violates his First Amendment right to assign reporters to cover “future Tennessee Judicial Conference meetings either virtually or in person,” and “limits necessary transparency around the state court rulemaking process.” McCaleb added that the yearly meetings “played a significant and positive role in the rulemaking process regarding federal court policy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dsoi\">During an emergency hearing on June 15, two days after McCaleb filed the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw declined to order this year’s Tennessee Judicial Conference to be opened to the public and media. Instead, according to<a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/15/judge-declines-to-open-tennessee-judicial-conference-to-public/7633547001/\"> the Tennessean</a>, Crenshaw sided with the state’s Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, who testified during the hearing that the conference meetings would be “entirely educational” for the attendees. While the conference will not be open to the public, McCaleb’s lawsuit will continue in federal court and can argue for future meetings to be open if the meetings discuss public policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"ec5jr\">In response to a request for comment, Barbara Peck, the Director of Communications for the Tennessee State Courts, directed the Tracker to the state’s filing opposing the temporary restraining order filed by McCaleb. In it, Long argues that “while the First Amendment right of access covers certain judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings and records filed in those proceedings, neither the Sixth Circuit nor the Supreme Court has ever recognized a First Amendment right of access to meetings of a state judiciary such as the TJC.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ducr6\">McCaleb did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"name": "Tennessee",
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"ongoing"
],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan McCaleb (The Center Square)"
],
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"Change in policy or practice",
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},
{
"title": "Journalist detained by deputies after documenting arrests at Idaho Pride parade",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-detained-by-deputies-after-documenting-arrests-at-idaho-pride-parade/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-21T16:45:36.039634Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-08T20:24:02.284400Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-08T20:24:02.206554Z",
"date": "2022-06-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Coeur d'Alene",
"longitude": -116.78047,
"latitude": 47.67768,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ft9ql\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was detained by Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies and her car searched after she documented multiple arrests at a Pride parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on June 11, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu9af\">Portland-based Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she decided to travel to Idaho when she became aware that right-wing and neo-Nazi groups were planning a protest in opposition to the annual Pride in the Park event.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvlc9\">Azar told the Tracker she documented the arrests of two individuals at around 1 p.m., and then continued to report on the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535705289806073857\">general festivities</a> and the actions of the gathered <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535710600285720576\">counterprotesters</a>. Azar said she was planning to leave a few hours later when she saw a sheriff running with his baton out, trailed by six or seven individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqrja\">“I wasn’t sure what was going on but I knew something was happening, so I started running and I followed them,” Azar said. “I followed all the way out of the park and another one to one-and-a-half blocks away, where there were a bunch of police cars in the street. As I got a little bit closer that’s when I saw the group of Patriot Front that was arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30oia\">CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/11/us/31-people-arrested-for-conspiracy-to-riot-near-idaho-pride-parade/index.html\">reported</a> that 31 individuals believed to be affiliated with Patriot Front — which the Anti-Defamation League <a href=\"https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/patriot-front\">identifies</a> as a white supremacist group — were arrested for conspiracy to riot.</p><p data-block-key=\"boaid\">Azar said that while filming law enforcement unmasking and processing each individual, an officer called her by name and told the officer next to him, “There’s your girl, the one filming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6buq9\">At approximately 1:38 in her <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535735682877902848\">footage</a>, a voice can be heard saying, “Hey Azar, hey Azar.” As the video pans to the right, an officer waves at her while a voice off screen says, “Yeah, that’s her.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Patriot front arrested. they have a uhaul filled with shields and idk what else <a href=\"https://t.co/c8pCyd0xGW\">https://t.co/c8pCyd0xGW</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/omQuLyPpoe\">pic.twitter.com/omQuLyPpoe</a></p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535735682877902848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ft9ql\">Azar told the Tracker that she returned to her car when the arrests were finished, which was parked about a mile away.</p><p data-block-key=\"63o7o\">“I had a bad feeling after being called out by name, but I didn’t notice anyone following me,” Azar said. She opened all of her car doors to allow it to cool off; within five minutes, a Kootenai Sheriff's deputy arrived and began asking her questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"58obj\">“I do think it was extremely targeted,” Azar told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjtu2\">The deputy told her that by leaving her doors open she was blocking the roadway and breaking the law, so she closed the doors but the officer continued to question her and asked her to sit on the sidewalk. Azar told the Tracker that throughout the encounter she identified herself as a journalist and was wearing her press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"esekr\">She said two additional police vehicles pulled up within 15 minutes, and an officer questioned her about her presence at the various arrests during the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kj88\">“He said that he was suspicious of my involvement because I was one of the first people there on the scene, but I thought that was very odd because there were a bunch of onlookers there that were witnessing it,” Azar said. “And I was the first person at every arrest that happened that day because that’s kind of what I do: I document all of that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cd8f\">She was then told to go back to the sidewalk, where within moments a Sheriff’s deputy told her she was being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bm2d\">“I thought it was a joke,” Azar said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“Ok. NOW you’re being detained.” I thought this was a joke at first, but they were serious. The sheriff left for a moment as the other cops began taking a ton of pictures of me on their phones. The sheriff came back with his K9 and the cops began searching every inch of the car</p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1536090807505039360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ft9ql\">The K-9 officer and other deputies proceeded to search her car and belongings. Azar said that while she was sitting on the sidewalk, numerous other officers took photos of her with their cellphones.</p><p data-block-key=\"de5q7\">Officers did not find anything in her car, Azar said, and she was ultimately released without charges after about an hour. She told the Tracker she has not decided whether to file a complaint with the Sheriff’s department.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hjkir\">More than 30 members of a white nationalist group were arrested at a Pride event in Idaho on June 11, 2022. Shortly after documenting their arrests, independent journalist Alissa Azar was herself detained by law enforcement.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Kootenai County Sheriff's Office",
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],
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"state": {
"name": "Idaho",
"abbreviation": "ID"
},
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"tags": [
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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],
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},
{
"title": "Sarasota Herald-Tribune prohibited from publishing deputies’ names",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sarasota-herald-tribune-prohibited-from-publishing-deputies-names/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-16T17:52:08.137028Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T20:46:13.506436Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T20:46:13.397082Z",
"date": "2022-06-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sarasota",
"longitude": -82.53065,
"latitude": 27.33643,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mxylf\">A Florida judge granted an emergency injunction on June 10, 2022, barring the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and reporter Melissa Pérez-Carrillo from publishing the names of deputies involved in a fatal shooting in April, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1mrt\"><a href=\"https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/sarasota/2022/06/14/judge-orders-herald-tribune-not-publish-sarasota-deputies-names-marsys-law/7624647001/\">According to the Herald-Tribune</a>, the State Attorney’s Office provided the outlet with the last names of the three deputies involved in a court-ordered eviction that resulted in the shooting death of a Sarasota resident as part of a routine public records request.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a9ak\">The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office argues that two of the deputies’ identities are confidential under Marsy’s Law, which provides certain protections to crime victims and was added to the Florida Constitution in 2018. Whether the law can be used to shield law enforcement officers in this way is at the center of a case <a href=\"https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/12/21/florida-supreme-court-review-marsys-law-dispute-tallahassee/8980067002/\">being heard by the Florida Supreme Court</a> stemming from a fatal police shooting in Tallahassee in May 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tscq\">Chief Circuit Judge Charles Roberts granted the request from the Sheriff’s Office and the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday evening without notifying the Herald-Tribune, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tlf6\">Attorneys for the Herald-Tribune filed an emergency motion to dissolve the injunction on June 13 on behalf of the newspaper Pérez-Carrillo. The motion, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, contends that the order amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint violating both the United States and Florida constitutions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei3a5\">“It’s important for us to follow through on this action because we are committed to fulfilling our First Amendment right to responsibly report news about this case which is important and of public interest,” Jennifer Orsi, executive editor at the Herald-Tribune, told the Tracker. “We believe that once our arguments are heard, this injunction will be lifted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"100hb\">The law firm representing the Herald-Tribune told the Tracker that a hearing on the motion to dissolve has been scheduled for June 21 before Judge Charles Williams.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ilrs\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Sarasota Herald-Tribune Executive Editor Jennifer Orsi.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z3cn7\">A portion of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s motion to lift an unconstitutional prior restraint against the newspaper and one of its reporters, which was put in place on June 10, 2022.</p>",
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "struck down",
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-06-27 16:17:00+00:00) Judge strikes down prior restraint against the Sarasota Herald-Tribune"
],
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"Sarasota Herald-Tribune"
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"tags": [
"public records"
],
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa Pérez-Carrillo (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)"
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "St. Joseph journalist deposed after reporting on hospital",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-journalist-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.558072Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.558072Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.502955Z",
"date": "2022-06-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Joseph",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qfcze\">A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson and a news director on June 2, 2022, after Anderson reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"cg4ot\">On May 18, the <a href=\"https://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/courts/ex-employees-lawsuit-against-mosaic-continues/article_61a68840-d0a2-11ec-a239-d3961f03705c.html\">News-Press published Anderson’s article</a> on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mjtc\"><a href=\"https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-06-30/a-hospital-in-st-joseph-missouri-wages-a-legal-war-against-the-local-newspaper\">According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR</a>, Anderson’s reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.</p><p data-block-key=\"4n73f\">In an email, Anderson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that about two weeks after publishing the article he received a phone call from Mosaic Life Care asking for reporting materials and recorded interviews with sources. He said he declined to provide any information. </p><p data-block-key=\"fj17t\">The hospital issued Anderson a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Anderson and Steven Booher, the News-Press’ director of news content, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. The law firm representing Mosaic Life Center did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fjn1\">In his deposition on June 14, Anderson answered questions about his motivation for reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he denied having seen a confidential spreadsheet containing the names of former hospital employees. </p><p data-block-key=\"crfm6\">The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Anderson but was present during the deposition, said he objected to the subpoena. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” Keenan said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvbek\">Anderson told the Tracker that he continues reporting on the lawsuit, and the subpoena has not impacted his objectivity. </p><p data-block-key=\"18qqe\">“I think, if anything, this has just made me more aware of how business tend to work, but I am not spooked, and it has not impacted my news judgment,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ep2a5\">A portion of the subpoena issued to St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson.</p>",
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"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Clayton Anderson (St. Joseph News-Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "St. Joseph News-Press news director deposed after reporting on hospital lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-news-press-news-director-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.102158Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.102158Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.056412Z",
"date": "2022-06-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Joseph",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nhahm\">A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press News Director Steven Booher and a reporter on June 2, 2022, after the newspaper reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6n4t\">On May 18, the <a href=\"https://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/courts/ex-employees-lawsuit-against-mosaic-continues/article_61a68840-d0a2-11ec-a239-d3961f03705c.html\">News-Press published an article</a> on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"9enrn\"><a href=\"https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-06-30/a-hospital-in-st-joseph-missouri-wages-a-legal-war-against-the-local-newspaper\">According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR</a>, the New-Press’ reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.</p><p data-block-key=\"19o9m\">The hospital issued Booher a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Booher and Clayton Anderson, the News-Press reporter who wrote the article, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. In his deposition on June 14, Booher refused to produce unpublished and unaired materials gathered while reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he said the News-Press would consider producing the materials if ordered to by a judge. Neither Booher nor the lawyers representing Mosaic Life Center responded to requests for comment. </p><p data-block-key=\"8rsus\">The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Booher but was present during the deposition, asked Booher if subpoenas issued to reporters had the potential to have a chilling effect on journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p19q\">“It would. It would definitely have that effect, and most likely it would affect our news judgment about stories that we do cover, and eventually it would have a detrimental effect on our business,” Booher said in the deposition. </p><p data-block-key=\"5nuta\">Keenan objected to the subpoenas during the depositions. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Steven Booher (St. Joseph News-Press)"
],
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{
"title": "Journalists covering mass shootings report harassment and threats of arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-covering-mass-shootings-report-harassment-and-threats-of-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-03T17:38:14.481345Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-06-14T19:26:59.606340Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-06-14T19:26:59.516145Z",
"date": "2022-06-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8hao\">While covering the aftermath of two recent mass shootings, journalists have reported hurdles to their news coverage, including harassment and threats of arrest by law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"3o534\">On May 24, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. About a week after, on June 1, a CNN crew visited the Uvalde school district headquarters, where police officers <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/media/uvalde-shooting-news-coverage-press/index.html\">told the journalists they were trespassing and threatened to arrest them</a> if they stepped back on the property. Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz recorded the interaction with Producer Matthew Friedman and posted the video on Twitter:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The school district office called the police to ask the media to leave their property. <a href=\"https://t.co/uhwWLZe3ya\">pic.twitter.com/uhwWLZe3ya</a></p>— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1532013417648771072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8hao\">The following day, on June 2, <a href=\"https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Funerals-for-children-killed-in-mass-shooting-17215661.php\">Houston Chronicle</a> reporter Julian Gill tweeted a video showing members of Guardians of the Children biker club following and surrounding him outside of the funeral of one of the children killed in the shooting. Gill also reported that the individuals attempted to physically obstruct cameras within the designated areas.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Several members of this biker club, Guardians of the Children, just followed, blocked and surrounded me as I tried to approach the cemetery to meet a photographer. One member says they’re working with police: “They asked us to be here.” <br><br>Short post: <a href=\"https://t.co/OfZCAZbUZx\">https://t.co/OfZCAZbUZx</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/5d6wsLKQ0k\">pic.twitter.com/5d6wsLKQ0k</a></p>— Julian Gill (@JulianGi11) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JulianGi11/status/1532451964457566210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8hao\">According to <a href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/uvalde-police-enlist-bikers-block-reporters-covering-funerals-report-1712524\">Newsweek,</a> the Uvalde Police Department reportedly asked members of at least three biker groups to keep journalists “in line” during a funeral for one of the victims.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lfqr\">In a statement to the outlet, a board member of Guardians of the Children, one of the groups gathered outside Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary, denied the group obstructed anyone or that they were asked to be there by law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"eer0r\">On June 3, the Texas Tribune reported that Uvalde City Hall locked its doors during regular business hours and refused to “<a href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/03/pete-arredondo-uvalde-school-police-chief/\">immediately provide any public records to reporters</a>.” According to the Tribune, the move came as residents and journalists aim to hold Pete Arredondo, the chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, accountable for waiting <a href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/27/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-timeline/\">more than an hour</a> for backup instead of immediately ordering officers to charge the gunman inside Robb Elementary School.</p><p data-block-key=\"codbk\">Nearly two weeks before the Uvalde school shooting, a gunman killed 10 people in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. Los Angeles Times reporter Connor Sheets said he was in Conklin, New York, a few days after the shooting when Sheriff’s deputies escorted him away from the alleged shooter's high school. The next day, deputies demanded that he also leave the school district’s central office and once again escorted him away from the building. "This restriction of media access seems to be part of the post-mass-shooting playbook," Sheets wrote in a tweet.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Two days after the Buffalo shooting, police demanded I leave and escorted me away from the alleged shooter's (closed) high school. They did so again the next day at the school district office. This restriction of media access seems to be part of the post-mass-shooting playbook. <a href=\"https://t.co/EpzgoZu8Hu\">https://t.co/EpzgoZu8Hu</a></p>— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ConnorASheets/status/1532217467744882688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8hao\">“These kinds of practices limit access to public information and can make it harder for journalists to do their jobs,” Sheets told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS886AO.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ic9tr\">A media area is designated during a May 28, 2022, gathering to remember victims of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Journalists report harassment and threats of arrest while covering the aftermath of gun violence.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Julian Gill (Houston Chronicle)",
"Shimon Prokupecz (CNN)",
"Matthew Friedman (CNN)",
"Connor Sheets (Los Angeles Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Subpoenaed news reporter will not have to testify in MN murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoenaed-news-reporter-will-not-have-to-testify-in-mn-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-22T20:21:00.210599Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-06-29T16:14:55.956811Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-06-29T16:14:55.851929Z",
"date": "2022-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g564m\">A Minnesota District judge quashed a subpoena on June 20, 2022, that sought testimony from KARE 11 News reporter Lou Raguse in an upcoming murder trial in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ok03\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/judge-says-kare-11-reporter-doesnt-have-to-testify-in-hwy-169-road-rage-killing-trial/600183736/\">Star Tribune</a>, Dan Allard, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney, filed a motion to compel Raguse to testify during the trial of Jamal Smith. Smith is accused of fatally shooting a man after an altercation on a Minneapolis highway.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkujg\">Raguse did not respond to a request for comment, but his attorney, Leita Walker, confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by email that the subpoena was initially served on or around May 30, 2022. Walker said that prosecutors filed a motion to compel after being notified that the law required them to first apply to the court before subpoenaing a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"elvf6\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/tv-reporter-fights-hennepin-county-prosecutors-subpoena-to-compel-testimony-hwy-169-shooting-case/600182085/?refresh=true\">Star Tribune</a>, Raguse recorded a video interview with Smith while he was in jail in April 2022, where Smith denied having fired the fatal shot. Allard argued that Raguse’s testimony could place Smith in the vehicle during the shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"d66rn\">During a hearing on the motion, Walker argued that the prosecutor misstated or ignored law protecting journalists, and that reporters could not be compelled to reveal confidential sources or information under Minnesota state law.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ff7q\">Hennepin County Judge Nicole Engisch sided with Raguse in denying the motion to compel, quashing the subpoena. According to the Star Tribune, Engisch’s six-page order stated, “The court does not find that the state’s argument here outweighs Mr. Raguse’s First Amendment interest and legal privilege to avoid being compelled to testify on unpublished information gathered as part of his work as a journalist.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
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"quashed"
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{
"title": "Outlets sue after media barred from attending Iowa school board meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/outlets-sue-after-media-barred-from-attending-iowa-school-board-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2022-08-09T18:49:36.240383Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-27T21:01:11.436968Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-27T21:01:11.253189Z",
"date": "2022-05-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bettendorf",
"longitude": -90.51569,
"latitude": 41.52448,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l8tis\">Journalists from four news companies were blocked from attending a school board meeting in Bettendorf, Iowa, on May 25, 2022, according to a lawsuit the outlets filed against the school district.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vefe\">The meeting — which was held the day after the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas — was about school violence and was attended by more than 300 parents.</p><p data-block-key=\"5k6j3\">KCRG News <a href=\"https://www.kcrg.com/2022/08/02/news-companies-file-lawsuit-against-bettendorf-community-school-district/\">reported</a> that school employees were stationed at the doors of the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center to prevent members of the press from entering a meeting, including journalists from the Quad-City Times, KWQC-TV, WQAD-TV and WHBF-TV.</p><p data-block-key=\"7thbt\">KQAD reporter Josh Lamberty <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/JoshLambertyTV/posts/pfbid06Rqx3Dd7fbYCSwkTjK4skUTze4mGDh8tCcsG1SLqw4hFq1pU3jCQq2m88S95ztSgl\">posted to Facebook</a> that he was outside the convention center but that he wasn’t being allowed to attend the meeting. Lamberty also shared a photo of a sign on the door which reads: “Out of respect for an open honest work session for our Middle School parents and staff, we ask for <b>no recording, live streaming or media</b> at tonight’s work session.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a9ql1\">The news outlets, joined by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22125420/foic-petition-draft-02067690x9c82b.pdf\">filed a lawsuit</a> against the Bettendorf school board and other officials on Aug. 1.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ouho\">The lawsuit asks the Scott County District Court to rule that the school district violated <a href=\"https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/chapter/21.pdf\">Iowa’s open meeting law</a>, issue an injunction prohibiting such actions in the future and fine the school board members who took part in the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"aehch\">Iowa FOI Executive Director Randy Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while they weren’t eager to resort to pursuing a legal remedy, they couldn’t let the closed meeting go unchallenged.</p><p data-block-key=\"454bp\">“We don’t want government boards and councils in Iowa to believe that the open meetings law is something they only have to follow when it’s convenient,” Evans said. “Cutting journalists off is really cutting the information chain to citizens in two pieces.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7husp\">In <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22125421/71822-petition-ex-1-02055263x9c82b.pdf\">a letter</a> to the school board president and superintendent dated June 3, the media organizations and nonprofit expressed “profound disappointment” with the school officials’ decision to keep journalists out of the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"auhqd\">“The topic discussed on the evening of Wednesday, May 25, was one of the fundamental responsibilities of the Bettendorf Community School District — ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the district’s 4,700 students during each school day,” the letter stated. “Barring both journalists and other interested people from the meeting on May 25 is a direct violation of the statute of the Iowa Legislature clearly articulated in the first paragraph of the open meetings law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"47oi9\">Evans told the Tracker they did not receive a response from the school district.</p><p data-block-key=\"6g832\">When reached for comment, Bettendorf School District Director of Communications Celeste Miller said in a statement that school officials do not believe the outlets’ claims have any merit.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kh1q\">“The May 25 Work Session was to provide a forum for parents, staff and interested community members to come together to discuss with each other the District’s strengths, weaknesses, solutions, and barriers,” the statement reads. “The District has presented the information obtained at the Work Session to the School Board at its open meetings and will continue to do so.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a53mt\">The news outlets did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_1502.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4huxh\">A still frame of coverage by Iowa station WHBF-TV of a school board meeting in Bettendorf on May 25, 2022, which banned media from attending. The station, three other news outlets and a nonprofit later sued the school board in connection with the ban.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Iowa",
"abbreviation": "IA"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-06-08 00:00:00+00:00) School board settles with news outlets, admits open meeting violation"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KWQC-TV",
"Quad-City Times",
"WHBF-TV",
"WQAD-TV"
],
"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Local government: Public school district"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Josh Lamberty (WQAD-TV)"
],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Individual aims firearm at FOX news crew during morning broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individual-aims-firearm-at-fox-news-crew-during-morning-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-31T17:41:46.080899Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-31T17:41:46.080899Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-31T17:41:46.010283Z",
"date": "2022-05-25",
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"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mwtf2\">An unidentified individual aimed what appeared to be a firearm at FOX 32 reporter Joanie Lum and an unidentified photographer during their live report in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"aba41\">The outlet <a href=\"https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-police-search-for-man-who-pointed-gun-at-fox-32-crew-during-a-live-report\">reported</a> that the news crew was doing a live report about gun violence in the city at the corner of Clark and Hubbard Streets at around 7 a.m. when an individual walked behind Lum pointing what looks to be a handgun at the camera as he went past. In <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEnPmPGF4aY\">footage of the incident</a>, the individual appears to mime firing two shots at the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"234iu\">Lum does not appear to notice the individual, continuing her report on Chicago’s reaction to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with the words, “our own gun violence here in Chicago.”</p><p data-block-key=\"29qi3\">Neither journalist was injured, according to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kn6t\">Police are attempting to identify the man, whom they are referring to as a “person of interest” and who is accused of aggravated assault with a firearm, according to FOX 32.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbpga\">Neither Lum, FOX 32 nor FOX News’ national office responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/FOX_32_photog_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8kuss\">Police are attempting to identify a man on suspicion of aggravated assault with a firearm after he aimed what appeared to be a handgun at a FOX 32 news crew in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 23 (WFLD)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Individual aims weapon at FOX reporter, photographer during morning broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individual-aims-weapon-at-fox-reporter-photographer-during-morning-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-31T17:36:58.816716Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-31T17:36:58.816716Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-31T17:36:58.769801Z",
"date": "2022-05-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kofgt\">An unidentified individual aimed what appeared to be a firearm at FOX 32 reporter Joanie Lum and an unidentified photographer during their live report in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dsuc\">The outlet <a href=\"https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-police-search-for-man-who-pointed-gun-at-fox-32-crew-during-a-live-report\">reported</a> that the news crew was doing a live report about gun violence in the city at the corner of Clark and Hubbard Streets at around 7 a.m. when an individual walked behind Lum pointing what looks to be a handgun at the camera as he went past. In <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEnPmPGF4aY\">footage of the incident</a>, the individual appears to mime firing two shots at the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f83i\">Lum does not appear to notice the individual, continuing her report on Chicago’s reaction to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with the words, “our own gun violence here in Chicago.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3qqi4\">Neither journalist was injured, according to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"61sac\">Police are attempting to identify the individual, whom they are referring to as a “person of interest” and who is accused of aggravated assault with a firearm, according to FOX 32.</p><p data-block-key=\"aj40j\">Neither Lum, FOX 32 nor FOX News’ national office responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lum_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"iirq9\">Police are attempting to identify a man on suspicion of aggravated assault with a firearm after he aimed what appeared to be a handgun at a FOX 32 news crew in Chicago, Illinois, on May 25, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joanie Lum (WFLD)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Subpoena to uncover confidential source dropped after agreement reached",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-to-uncover-confidential-source-dropped-after-agreement-reached/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:47:03.592693Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:47:03.592693Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-06T21:47:03.483890Z",
"date": "2022-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e2uzt\">An executive producer for Fox News, Cyd Upson, was subpoenaed on May 23, 2022, about coverage of a federal investigation into a Chinese American scientist that later led to a privacy lawsuit. The subpoena was ultimately withdrawn.</p><p data-block-key=\"fittc\">Fox published the investigative online articles and broadcast reports from February to June 2017. Multiple agencies were investigating the possible foreign military ties of Yanping Chen and the university she founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area.</p><p data-block-key=\"18rcf\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016. No charges were brought against Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"7or4j\">In December 2018, Chen sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was shared with Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"bh5fv\">In 2022, Chen subpoenaed Upson, Herridge, then-Senior Executive Producer Pamela K. Browne and Fox News for documents and testimony, in an attempt to uncover the confidential source behind the leak. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"929i1\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.86.0.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the Tracker, Upson and Browne agreed to provide sworn statements in place of documents or testimony. In exchange, Chen agreed to withdraw her subpoenas to Browne and Upson, but continued to pursue those sent to Fox and Herridge, a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.122.0.pdf\">subsequent court filing</a> confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa0d6\">In a June 30 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.3.pdf\">statement</a>, Upson declared that she was never made aware of the identity of Herridge’s confidential source or sources, and has no information that could be used to help identify them.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Upson.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4dgwb\">A portion of a sworn statement filed by Fox News Senior Producer Cyd Upson in June 2022, about her coverage of an FBI investigation into a Chinese American scientist's possible foreign military ties.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_type": "subpoena",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cyd Upson (Fox News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Reuters reporter’s phone confiscated on Pentagon trip to Europe",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reuters-reporters-phone-confiscated-on-pentagon-trip-to-europe/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-23T17:34:40.680776Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-08T20:33:56.111096Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-08T20:33:56.045820Z",
"date": "2022-05-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Prince George County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uclis\">A Reuters reporter had his phone confiscated and was prohibited from using any electronic devices during a flight to Oslo, Norway, on May 22, 2022, while traveling with the Department of Defense.</p><p data-block-key=\"eho7t\">Idrees Ali, who has been a foreign correspondent covering the Pentagon since 2015 and is not a U.S. citizen, was told of a new policy on May 19 that would impact his ability to use his cellphone during the eight-hour flight to Oslo with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. As of publication, the Pentagon has not responded to a request for comment or for a copy of the policy to review.</p><p data-block-key=\"clshj\">According to <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/22/pentagon-foreign-reporter-phone-official-travel-00034299\">Politico</a>, the policy states that non-U.S. citizens traveling with government officials who have “top-secret” security clearance are prohibited from using any devices during the flight. As a foreign correspondent, Ali has traveled to secure locations in the past with top government officials, including trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.</p><p data-block-key=\"fa89n\">Officials for the Pentagon had been “working on a resolution” with Ali before the departure date, but after arriving at Joint Base Andrews airport on the 22nd, Ali was told that no resolution to the issue was found and he would not be allowed to use his cellphone or laptop computer for the flight duration.</p><p data-block-key=\"b73e7\">Shortly after taking off, a DoD official instructed Ali to hand over his phone. Ali documented the incident on Twitter and shared a photo of the pouch he placed his phone in before it was confiscated.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yesterday on an official trip with Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Hicks, my phone was confiscated by a DoD official, locked up and I was stopped from using electronics because of a new policy that bars non-US reporters from using devices on govt planes. (Pic taken by US citizen) <a href=\"https://t.co/2cREYUp5Qd\">pic.twitter.com/2cREYUp5Qd</a></p>— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1528688565118554113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 23, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uclis\">Officials returned the cellphone to Ali after landing in Oslo. Reporters, including Ali, are set to visit the United Kingdom and Germany as Hicks meets with military and government leaders.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ogh6\">DoD and Air Force officials did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker, but in a statement to Politico, Air Force spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the policy was under review and would not impact Ali for the remainder of the trip.</p><p data-block-key=\"75v5l\">“We respect the role of a free press and welcome them aboard our flights. We regret the inconvenience we caused this reporter, and we will be reviewing the policy going forward,” Ryder said.</p><p data-block-key=\"22ou7\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, a Reuters spokesperson said the news agency had “expressed our concern about the rule change regarding members of the press who are non-U.S. citizens being able to access electronic devices during travel with the U.S. Department of Defense. The matter has now been resolved.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bxjym\">Fce</p>",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "politician",
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Maryland",
"abbreviation": "MD"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-05-23 13:02:00+00:00) Air Force rescinds new policy that led to Reuters reporter’s phone being confiscated on Pentagon trip to Europe"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [],
"current_charges": [],
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Idrees Ali (Reuters)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Nebraska high school newspaper, class shuttered after publishing LGBTQ content",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nebraska-high-school-newspaper-class-shuttered-after-publishing-lgbtq-content/",
"first_published_at": "2022-09-20T17:27:03.869205Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T17:34:26.937427Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T17:34:26.849773Z",
"date": "2022-05-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Grand Island",
"longitude": -98.34201,
"latitude": 40.92501,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6empc\">A high school student newspaper and related class in Nebraska were shuttered by school administrators in May 2022, after student journalists featured LGBTQ content in their end-of-year issue, a move press freedom advocates condemned as censorship.</p><p data-block-key=\"buqi6\">The Grand Island Independent <a href=\"https://theindependent.com/news/local/nurseries-of-democracy-northwest-student-journalism-elimination-a-saga/article_88ceba8a-1758-11ed-a179-c36008eeaed3.html\">reported</a> that Northwest Public Schools administrators abruptly announced an end to The Viking Saga, a 54-year-old student publication in Grand Island, just three days after the newspaper published its June issue on May 16.</p><p data-block-key=\"2amc0\">According to the <a href=\"https://theindependent.com/news/local/nurseries-of-democracy-northwest-student-journalism-elimination-a-saga/article_88ceba8a-1758-11ed-a179-c36008eeaed3.html\">Independent</a>, which publishes the school newspaper, an email sent by a school employee to cancel printing services on May 22 said the news program was slashed because the school board and superintendent were “unhappy with the last issue's editorial content.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pnl7\">The Saga adviser declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The student journalists told the Independent that Saga staff had been reprimanded in April by district officials who said to use only birth names in bylines and articles.</p><p data-block-key=\"2n2b6\">Marcus Pennell, a college freshman and former Saga student journalist, wrote in an <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/nebraska-northwest-high-school-newspaper-lgbtq-canceled/\">op-ed for The Washington Post</a> that the Saga staff decided to highlight LGBTQ issues after the reprimand.</p><p data-block-key=\"8b3l5\">“The Saga’s staff disagreed with the policy,” Pennell wrote. “So with our next issue, we knew we wanted to make a statement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cgl5q\">The <a href=\"https://issuu.com/vikingsaga/docs/nwv05132022t01\">June issue’s</a> LGBTQ content, according to Pennell, was three articles and, next to the paper’s nameplate, two rainbow icons.</p><p data-block-key=\"3hlr2\"><i>“</i>Every other story in the paper was dedicated to honoring Northwest’s expansive student life.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4gvb3\">Saga student journalists reached out to the Student Press Law Center, which <a href=\"https://splc.org/2022/08/student-paper-shut-down-for-lgbtqia-coverage/\">condemned the censorship</a> and worked with the students. Mike Hiestand, SPLC senior legal counsel, told the Tracker that this incident is part of a recent string of attacks on student journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"6e1nq\">“The very first question I have to ask when a student journalist calls is ‘Where are you calling from?’ because it makes all of the difference in the world right now,” Hiestand said. “It’s really unfortunate, but the law does vary significantly from state-to-state.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d22vf\">Laws that specifically protect students’ First Amendment rights, known as “New Voices” laws, are the best protection for student journalists, Hiestand said. New Voices legislation was <a href=\"https://splc.org/new-voices-nebraska/\">introduced in Nebraska in 2019</a>, but did not pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6g2r9\">On Aug. 29, the ACLU of Nebraska issued a letter to district superintendent Jeff Edwards, calling the elimination of the Saga an infringement on the student’s constitutional rights and demanding the newspaper’s reinstatement.</p><p data-block-key=\"34rs7\">Edwards wrote in <a href=\"https://www.ksnblocal4.com/2022/08/31/ginw-superintendent-issues-letter-regarding-lgbtq-controversy/\">an Aug. 31 statement</a> that the Saga was temporarily paused, not canceled, and that the decision wasn’t based on a single reason. Neither the superintendent nor the school principal responded to a request for comment by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p01c\">Since 2017, the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=student+journalism&categories=63\">seven high school newspapers</a> censored or subjected to prior review for their coverage of controversial topics.</p><p data-block-key=\"3beji\">If not reinstated, the 2022-2023 school year will mark the first time that the Saga hasn’t published since its 1968 launch. Last academic year, the student publication finished third at the Nebraska School Activities Association State Journalism Championship.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Nebraska",
"abbreviation": "NE"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-11-11 09:46:00+00:00) Nebraska school district reinstates high school newspaper, shuttered after LGBTQ issue, with caveats",
"(2023-03-31 14:43:00+00:00) A former student reporter, state high school press association file suit against Nebraska school district for shuttering student newspaper",
"(2023-10-16 12:49:00+00:00) Judge dismisses lawsuit against Nebraska school district for shuttering student newspaper"
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"dismissed"
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"student journalism"
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{
"title": "Fox News subpoenaed to reveal confidential source, editorial process",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-subpoenaed-to-reveal-confidential-source-editorial-process/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:55:34.787090Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-02T21:26:38.220091Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-02T21:26:37.900445Z",
"date": "2022-05-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2vbm7\">Fox News was subpoenaed in May 2022, about coverage of a federal investigation into a Chinese American scientist that later led to a privacy lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"4iahk\">The network published the investigative online articles and broadcast reports from February to June 2017. Multiple agencies were investigating the possible foreign military ties of Yanping Chen and the university she founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area.</p><p data-block-key=\"11im2\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016. No charges were brought against Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"clo0c\">In December 2018, Chen sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was shared with Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"g14u\">Chen subpoenaed Fox News on May 19, 2022, seeking <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.8.pdf\">documents and communications</a> from December 2012 through July 2018 concerning the published excerpts from the federal investigation, as well as information sufficient to identify Herridge’s source. A representative from Fox was also ordered to appear to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.9.pdf\">testify via Zoom</a> about the reporting and the network’s editorial review processes.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqhrs\">Over the next month, Chen also subpoenaed Herridge and producers Pamela K. Browne and Cyd Upson, who shared bylines on the articles. The Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6rv43\">Upson and Browne ultimately agreed to provide sworn statements in place of documents or testimony, according to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.86.0.pdf\">court filings</a>. In exchange, Chen agreed to withdraw her subpoenas to Browne and Upson, but continued to pursue the subpoenas to Fox and Herridge, a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.122.0.pdf\">subsequent court filing</a> confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cmb3\">Attorney Patrick Philbin — who is representing all of the Fox News defendants — filed <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.96.1.pdf\">motions</a> <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.1.pdf\">to quash</a> the latter two subpoenas on Aug. 1, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"1lha0\">“The public interest in First Amendment protections that promote the functioning of a free press is at its height in a case like this involving reporting on issues of national security,” Philbin wrote. “Without confidential sources, the press could not uncover information vital for informing the public — especially about the inner workings of government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1hf3f\">U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper heard arguments concerning the motions on May 30, 2023. <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/fox-news-pushes-to-quash-subpoena-that-could-unmask-source/\">Courthouse News reported</a> that he seemed reluctant to accept Philbin’s argument that the subpoenas posed a threat to First Amendment protections. Philbin did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ee8b9\">Cooper did not indicate when he would rule on the motions to quash, according to Courthouse News.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"roifx\">A portion of the subpoena issued to Fox News on May 19, 2022, seeking documents, communications and testimony concerning the network’s coverage of an FBI investigation into a Chinese American scientist's possible foreign military ties.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"(2023-08-01 17:13:00+00:00) Subpoenas to Fox News quashed while reporter must testify on confidential source"
],
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"Fox News"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist loses camera during confrontation at LA reproductive rights rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-loses-camera-while-covering-confrontation-at-reproductive-rights-rally-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-24T19:23:25.139127Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T14:44:35.595797Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T14:44:35.508230Z",
"date": "2022-05-14",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8ra8j\">Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco lost a camera during a skirmish while covering a reproductive rights rally that was met with a counterprotest in Los Angeles, California, on May 14, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"dri7d\">JP told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived at the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally outside of Los Angeles City Hall at about 11 a.m. to document the event and was heading toward the staging area where speakers were set to deliver remarks.</p><p data-block-key=\"ch0k9\">“I didn’t even make it to the stage because as soon as I got there, I immediately walked into a confrontation,” JP said.</p><p data-block-key=\"avkdv\">A group of individuals had locked arms to create a barrier to keep counterprotesters, who were demonstrating nearby, from engaging with those at the rally. The groups clashed after one individual pushed through the barrier.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Counter protesters are in s standoff with pro choice protesters <a href=\"https://t.co/abtTXHyZiP\">pic.twitter.com/abtTXHyZiP</a></p>— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoshMPacheco/status/1525550281324343296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 14, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8ra8j\">“At that point, I put my GoPro in my pocket because there was a scrum between protestors and their counters,” JP said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9me5l\">JP, who was also carrying additional camera equipment, captured footage of the groups clashing but lost the GoPro, valued at about $400, in the process.</p></div>",
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{
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
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"Josh Pacheco (Independent)"
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{
"title": "Freelance journalist detained while covering a deforestation protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-detained-while-covering-a-deforestation-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-27T17:47:15.344749Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-01-30T21:59:28.351228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-01-30T21:59:28.249073Z",
"date": "2022-05-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ptb9i\">Freelance journalist Ryan Fatica was detained and his notebook seized while covering a protest in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 14, 2022, according to <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/protester-terrorism-charges-come-amid-legal-battle-over-other-arrests-of-demonstrators-journalists/columnists/johnruch/\">a news report</a> and an interview with the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"fokpl\">Fatica, who is based in Arizona, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in December that he was on assignment for Unicorn Riot that day covering protests organized by the Defend the Atlanta Forest campaign. According to Fatica’s <a href=\"https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/police-raid-atlanta-forest-occupation/\">reporting</a> for the nonprofit media organization, demonstrators gathered in Atlanta as part of a “week of action” against the planned destruction of 85 acres of forest to make way for a police training facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"2o7iq\">Fatica told the Tracker that on May 14, protesters marched for approximately an hour before returning to Freedom Park and beginning to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"fv86m\">“We could see the cops starting to line up at the edge of the park, piles of zip ties in their hands,” Fatica said. “Lots of people left, others thought that they were in a public park so they didn’t have anything to worry about.”</p><p data-block-key=\"68k4f\">Atlanta Police Department officers advanced on those remaining in the park without warning, Fatica said. While he was filming the arrest of a demonstrator, an officer pointed at him and directed other officers to detain him as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"9su6m\">“Him too, he was in the street recording, he was recording, too,” the officer can be heard saying in Fatica’s <a href=\"https://vimeo.com/710114457\">footage</a> of the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"53f4e\">Fatica told the Tracker that while he wasn’t wearing a press badge, as soon as officers grabbed him he identified himself as a journalist. While he was handcuffed and on the ground, a sergeant took his reporting notebook from his pocket.</p><p data-block-key=\"9uc5j\">“She started looking through the notes, then said something like, ‘You’re not getting this back,’ and put it in her pocket,” Fatica said. He added that she wrote down his name on the inside flap before walking away.</p><p data-block-key=\"blgsc\">Fatica said he was one of approximately 17 people detained, and that those who were charged were cited with “pedestrian in roadway,” a misdemeanor.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kggk\">Once he was transported with the other detainees to jail to be processed, officers realized that the proper paperwork had not been filled out for Fatica during his arrest. He said he was released without charges approximately five hours after he was detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rrj3\">“I do believe that my arrest is part of a process of escalation of tactics against that movement and anyone documenting it,” Fatica said. “If this had been a protest about some issue unrelated to the police they would not have attacked it in the way that they did.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3bphi\">When emailed for comment, the Atlanta Police Department’s Public Affairs Office responded with an automated reply that it was operating on holiday on-call capacity, and that it would follow up.</p><p data-block-key=\"bp8q3\">Fatica told the Tracker that his notebook still had not been returned as of December. Attorney Drago Cepar has filed an ante litem notice on Fatica’s behalf, the first step in filing a lawsuit against the Georgia government. Cepar said the event in the park deserves to be rectified.</p><p data-block-key=\"alb9t\">“With Ryan, he hasn’t been ‘arrested,’ but his liberty has been restricted, he has been detained,” Cepar told the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
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{
"title": "AZ Republic denied multiple requests to witness executions",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arizona-republic-repeatedly-denied-access-to-witness-executions/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-16T19:31:19.911544Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:52:05.483457Z",
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"date": "2022-05-11",
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"city": "Florence",
"longitude": -111.38734,
"latitude": 33.03145,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8d8wu\">The Arizona Department of Corrections denied a request from The Arizona Republic to serve as a media witness to a prisoner execution on May 11, 2022. Over the next six months, the Republic was barred from attending two additional executions.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo3vt\">The Republic, Arizona’s largest newspaper by circulation, historically was granted access to witness executions and has widely reported on the state’s death penalty. In 2014, a Republic reporter was a media witness and <a href=\"http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2014/07/23/arizona-execution-botched/13070677/\">wrote about</a> the prolonged and difficult execution of <a href=\"http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/wood1385.htm#:~:text=According%20to%20Arizona%20Republic%20reporter%20Michael%20Kiefer%2C%20who%20witnessed%20the,he%20gasped%2C%22%20Kiefer%20said.\">Joseph Wood</a>. That execution was cited in the then-governor’s decision to order a review of the death penalty process, which led to the state halting executions for eight years. More recently, the Republic reported on the state’s <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2021/07/19/trial-ordered-over-arizona-department-corrections-inmate-health-care/8016646002/\">beleaguered prison health care system</a> and investigated the <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farizona-breaking%2F2022%2F04%2F08%2Fattorneys-death-row-prisoners-clarence-dixon-and-frank-atwood-question-safety-effectiveness-arizonas%2F9518633002%2F\">effectiveness of the lethal injections</a> used by the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"9u83u\">Republic reporter Jimmy Jenkins told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker his requests to serve as a media witness, beginning with the <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/05/11/clarence-dixon-executed-arizona-deana-bowdoin-murder/9723223002/\">May execution of Clarence Dixon</a>, were denied by the department. Executive Editor Greg Burton contacted Gov. Doug Ducey’s office, which oversees ADOC, regarding the newspaper’s May exclusion. According to <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/11/10/arizona-republic-denied-request-media-witness-execution/8309030001/\">the Republic</a>, Ducey’s chief of staff told Burton the news organization might be treated differently <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/05/23/attorney-arizona-violates-journalists-rights-witness-executions/9900645002/\">if it did not print “false information.”</a></p><p data-block-key=\"16cb0\">Since then, the Republic’s requests to witness the June execution of <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/06/08/frank-atwood-execution-arizona-vicki-lynne-hoskinson-murder/7547656001/\">Frank Atwood</a> and Nov. 16 execution of Murray Hopper were also denied by the ADOC. Other media organizations were allowed to witness the executions.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We're waiting on the press conference. The Arizona Republic was denied a request to serve as media witness to the execution for a 3rd time. There were once again only 3 media witnesses chosen by DOC to view the execution when they can accommodate up to 5 <a href=\"https://t.co/0x6DLFjaLk\">https://t.co/0x6DLFjaLk</a></p>— Jimmy Jenkins (@JimmyJenkins) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JimmyJenkins/status/1592934475629211648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8d8wu\">The ADOC did not directly respond to emailed questions from the Tracker. Instead, an official shared a copy of the <a href=\"https://corrections.az.gov/sites/default/files/policies/900/0710_042022.pdf\">department’s manual</a> citing guidelines on selecting media witnesses to executions.</p><p data-block-key=\"1m6al\">Attorney David Bodney, who represents Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., the publisher of the Republic and azcentral.com, told the Tracker in an email that the denials were retaliatory and in violation of state law.</p><p data-block-key=\"c50a5\">“The Department’s continued and unreasonable denial of The Republic’s requests seems nothing short of retribution for the newspaper’s detailed yet fair reporting on Arizona’s prisons,” Bodney said. “The law does not permit the government to deny access on this basis.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The Arizona Republic"
],
"tags": [],
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"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Law enforcement: State",
"State government: Governor"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
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},
{
"title": "Congressional candidate’s ad touts crowd-control munition use against press",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/congressional-candidates-ad-touts-crowd-control-munition-use-against-press/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-09T15:38:13.386906Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-25T18:14:09.609113Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-25T18:14:09.500519Z",
"date": "2022-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Winter Park",
"longitude": -81.33924,
"latitude": 28.6,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lxlvo\">A Florida Republican campaigning for a U.S. House of Representatives seat released an ad on May 5, 2022, boasting about the use of his company’s crowd-control munitions against members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkpkc\">Cory Mills, who served in the Trump administration's Department of Defense and is now running for Florida’s 7th Congressional District, posted the campaign ad to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7OH3e2hXh0\">YouTube</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CoryMillsFL/status/1522361410948280320\">Twitter</a>. The Floridian <a href=\"https://floridianpress.com/2022/05/cory-mills-rips-media-and-woke-culture-with-six-figure-tv-ad-buy/\">reported</a> that Mills also made a“six-figure” ad buy in the Orlando media market to air the video on television.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BLM democrats in Congress are “investigating” us for providing riot control gear to law enforcement around the country to stop the riots in 2020.<br><br>Sadly for them, we are really proud of what we do.<br><br>If they want to cry about it, we can help them shed real tears. <br><br>Watch 👇🏼 <a href=\"https://t.co/tZDuzjnoOt\">pic.twitter.com/tZDuzjnoOt</a></p>— Cory Mills 🍊 (@CoryMillsFL) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CoryMillsFL/status/1522361410948280320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lxlvo\">“I came home and started a company making riot control munitions for law enforcement — you may know some of our work,” Mills says in the ad while smiling. A clip then plays of demonstrators and members of the press being shot at with crowd-control munitions and chemical irritants at various protests nationwide.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cpo4\">“Now the liberal media’s crying about it,” Mills continues. “If the media wants to shed some real tears, I can help them out with that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cas1d\">On YouTube, the video description reiterates that point, writing, “Cory Mills is always happy to help the liberal media shed some tears.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ccd8h\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, released a statement that it was “deeply disturbing to hear a candidate for public office state that he would enjoy targeting journalists with tear gas.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g9q3\">“Threatening members of the media simply for engaging in critical reporting creates an atmosphere where attacks on journalists are normalized and perceived as acceptable, and sends a message to journalists that they ought to be afraid of public officials,” CPJ Advocacy Manager Michael De Dora said. “This has no place in our political discourse and is dangerous, regardless of the tone with which it is said.”</p><p data-block-key=\"634q1\">Mills' campaign office did not return a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mills_-_chilling.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g7gta\">A YouTube screenshot of Cory Mills’ congressional campaign ad, where he boasts about the use of his company’s crowd-control munitions against members of the press. Press advocacy groups called the rhetoric dangerous.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"current_charges": [],
"dropped_charges": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Subpoena seeking testimony from Oregon independent journalist dropped",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-seeking-testimony-from-oregon-independent-journalist-dropped/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-11T18:21:25.235862Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-11T18:21:25.235862Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-11T18:21:25.187376Z",
"date": "2022-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bend",
"longitude": -121.31531,
"latitude": 44.05817,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8e1uf\">The Deschutes County District Attorney in Bend, Oregon, issued a subpoena to independent journalist Hanna Merzbach on May 5, 2022, seeking testimony for an ongoing criminal case against a local rock climber. The subpoena was dropped the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ovst\">In an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Merzbach said the subpoena demanded she testify as a witness during a three-day criminal trial for local climber Shawn Ian Snyder. Merzbach interviewed Snyder for a <a href=\"https://www.bendsource.com/bend/rocky-regulations/Content?oid=13237912\">September 2020 article</a> about rock climbing regulations at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne, Oregon. </p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When the DA’s office delivers you a subpoena at the local coffee shop to testify about a source… <a href=\"https://t.co/jpdUh66Hu9\">pic.twitter.com/jpdUh66Hu9</a></p>— Hanna Merzbach (@HannaMerzbach) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/HannaMerzbach/status/1522324786570948608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8e1uf\">Before this trial, Snyder had been accused of <a href=\"https://gripped.com/news/highline-bolts-chopped-in-yosemite-and-death-threats/\">removing climbing bolts</a> in Yosemite State Park and was arrested and banned for <a href=\"https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/stashing-gear-on-public-land-etiquette-vs-law/article_ac24e7b1-ea83-513b-8473-5d1788049277.html\">removing climbing ropes and gear</a> from Smith Rock, which he said “puts a stain on a beautiful, natural place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ekabp\">According to Merzbach, the DA’s office wanted her to testify on a specific quote attributed to Snyder in her article. In the quote, he admitted that while unacceptable, he had “determined that physical threats and actions are the only methods that work” when communicating with other climbers about installing climbing equipment in the park.</p><p data-block-key=\"b2tnp\">Merzbach told the Tracker that the subpoena was dropped on May 6 after lawyers from the Oregon chapter of the Reporters Committee for Freedom Press intervened. RCFP is a member of the Tracker’s advisory board. </p><p data-block-key=\"76bmt\">In a tweet referring to the incident, Ellen Osoinach of RCFP wrote, “Fact. Journalists should never have to testify against sources they worked to develop relationships of trust with.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
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"legal_order_type": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hannah Merzbach (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"dropped"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Sheriff’s Department targets LA Times reporter in criminal leak investigation, then backtracks",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-department-targets-la-times-reporter-in-criminal-leak-investigation-then-backtracks/",
"first_published_at": "2022-04-28T19:11:22.311256Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-28T19:11:22.311256Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-28T19:11:22.256266Z",
"date": "2022-04-26",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eby8p\">Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that Los Angeles Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian was under a criminal leak investigation during a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj-FLxsIkOY&t=798s\">press conference</a> on April 26, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f0co\">The statement came nearly a month after <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-25/sheriff-deputy-force-coverup\">Tchekmedyian first reported on internal documents</a> detailing an alleged cover-up within the sheriff's department around an inmate abuse case. During the press conference, Villanueva displayed a picture of Tchekmedyian and two other individuals, saying all three were connected to the leak.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, Tuesday, April 26, 2022, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LACoSheriff</a> Alex Villanueva held a press conference to discuss a recent lawsuit by a disgruntled employee. To read the press release and view the video and materials used, click the following link <a href=\"https://t.co/gFBDoqk9ZL\">https://t.co/gFBDoqk9ZL</a></p>— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LASDHQ/status/1519124966821679104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eby8p\">When pressed to say whether Tchekmedyian was specifically under criminal investigation, Villanueva responded that Tchekmedyian received information and put it to use. “What she receives legally and puts to her own use and what she receives legally and the L.A. Times uses — I'm sure that's a huge, complex level of law and freedom of the press and all that. However, when it's stolen materials, at some point, you actually become part of the story. So, that's up to the L.A. Times to decide that."</p><p data-block-key=\"6r1m3\">Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida immediately condemned Villanueva's comments in a statement to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq8uq\">"His attempt to criminalize news reporting goes against well-established constitutional law. We will vigorously defend Tchekmedyian's and the Los Angeles Times' right in any proceeding or investigation brought by authorities," Merida said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The sheriff’s attack on reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AleneTchek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AleneTchek</a> drew immediate condemnation from the newspaper.<br><br>“His attempt to criminalize news reporting goes against well-established constitutional law,” said <a href=\"https://twitter.com/meridak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@meridak</a>, executive editor of The Times, in a statement. <a href=\"https://t.co/ZDmiTaktrG\">https://t.co/ZDmiTaktrG</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/yiJPDWGNUd\">pic.twitter.com/yiJPDWGNUd</a></p>— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1519068136946880513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 26, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eby8p\">Times’ General Counsel Jeff Glaser <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-26/l-a-times-protests-sheriffs-criminal-leak-investigation-against-reporter\">published a letter of protest</a>, warning Villaneuva that any attempt to prosecute the reporter would be "an abuse of your official position," and the outlet would “seek every available remedy against you, the Department, and every individual official involved in any such unlawful conduct."</p><p data-block-key=\"44sa4\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also condemned Villanueva's comments, calling it “blatantly retaliatory conduct.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3m4dk\">"Publishing newsworthy information about an alleged law enforcement cover up that sought to block an investigation into the use of excessive force is constitutionally protected activity, and clearly in the public interest," said Katie Townsend, RCFP’s Deputy Executive Director and Legal Director.</p><p data-block-key=\"99vu5\">Hours after the press conference, Villanueva <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff/status/1519130928915787776\">addressed</a> the public outcry in response to his comments.</p><p data-block-key=\"tbr9\">"Resulting from the incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated, I must clarify at no time today did I state an L.A. Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation. We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters."</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">(1/3) Resulting from the incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated, I must clarify at no time today did I state an LA Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation. We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters. <a href=\"https://t.co/43Ro4kK8HM\">pic.twitter.com/43Ro4kK8HM</a></p>— Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff/status/1519130928915787776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eby8p\">Villanueva also wrote that the sheriff's department would conduct a thorough investigation around the disclosure of evidence.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2022-04-28_at_2.53.40.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4t1oe\">LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva indicated LA Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian was part of a criminal leak investigation during an April 26, 2022, press conference for her reporting. He later called it ‘misinformation’.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alene Tchekmedyain (Los Angeles Times)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
}
]
